Gameday: Phillies (41-35) at Pirates (27-51)
Philadelphia Phillies (41-35) at Pittsburgh Pirates (27-51)
Cole Hamels, LHP (6-6, 4.08 ERA) vs. Daniel McCutchen, RHP (0-3, 11.00 ERA)
Time: 7:05, PNC Park
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 70
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Twitter: Phillies Nation
This is starting to get stupid. We now know about how long it will take Utley and Polanco to come back from their injuries, and I, for one, would have just as soon stayed in the dark. It’s 8 weeks and 3-4 weeks, respectively. So it’s a good thing Greg Dobbs is such a handsome man, because it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of him in the coming weeks. After losing half their infield and yesterday’s game, the Phillies have stumbled upon some good fortune.
The Pirates, as has been the case since 1993, are good for what ails ya. They are, as so often seems to be the case, buried below .500 with no identifiable stars except for center fielder and noted Lil Wayne lookalike Andrew McCutchen, who’s hitting .301/.379/.457 at age 23 and looks like the most promising face so far of the Pirates’ rebuilding effort.
On the mound tonight for the Bucs is Andrew McCutchen’s namesake Daniel, a righty armed with a fastball, a slider, and a sinker who came over in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte Trade. Right now, he’s pitching terribly, with an ERA of 11 in 18 IP this season. So let’s see if the Phillies can overcome a little bit of their bad luck against the Pittsburgh Fighting McCutchens.
Today’s Lineup: Victorino CF, Dobbs 3B, Rollins SS, Howard 1B, Werth RF, Ibanez LF, Valdez 2B, Schneider C, Hamels P.
This is a tasty, if somewhat girly beer with hints of lemon. It’s not really anything spectacular, but it’s one of those lightly-flavored beers that goes well on the back porch with a hot dog or a slice of watermelon or somesuch. It’s sort of like a frisbee–nothing life-changing, and if people see you with it too much they’ll start making fun of you, but it’s just good, clean, solid summer fun.
– By Michael
GO PHILLIES!
